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March 8, 2010

Stillwater City Council member's response to recall petition due Monday

By Philip Jankowski Stillwater NewsPress

STILLWATER, Okla. — Monday is the due date for a response from Stillwater City Councilor Darrell Dougherty to a preliminary petition seeking to remove him from office.

Dougherty said he will submit a response with the city by Monday’s 5 p.m. deadline.

The preliminary petition seeks Dougherty’s recall and accuses him of public intoxication and gross partiality in office, citing his efforts to further the recall of Mayor Nathan Bates. Dougherty has also suggested the mayor resign.

The original petition to recall the mayor accused Bates of public intoxication, using his office for personal gain and interfering with city employees including police. Bates and Dougherty both have denied allegations against them, although Bates later acknowledged asking the Chamber of Commerce for OSU football tickets.

An election to decide whether Bates should remain in office will be conducted May 11.

A response from Dougherty is one in a series of steps in the petition process to oust him from office.

Whether Dougherty submits a response, a formal petition will be created by the city clerk’s and city attorney’s office. Officials will have 15 days to create the petition.

The formal petition will include the verbatim text of the original petition, Dougherty’s response and a written warning stating it is a felony for an unregistered voter to sign the petition, sign more than once or sign someone else’s name.

Jim Trent circulated the first petition against Dougherty because Dougherty petitioned for Bates’ recall. Trent was Bates’ campaign manager last year and is now managing the mayor’s campaign to remain in office. Bates said he asked Trent to manage his newest campaign, provided Trent distanced himself from the Dougherty recall.

Trent identified Kay Adams as now being in charge of the Dougherty recall effort but Adams would not confirm nor deny her involvement and refused to talk about it with the NewsPress.

Petitioners will have a month to gather at least 649 signatures to trigger a recall election. The number of needed signatures is still based on turnout during 2009’s general election, despite last week’s primary vote, City Attorney John Dorman said Monday. The charter refers to the most recent general election. Last week’s election was a primary.

If enough signatures from valid registered voters are collected, a recall election would be conducted.

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